Tshepang Mailwane: Hi, Ronwen. Thanks for your time. Congratulations, you’ve reclaimed the MTN8 title after losing it last year. What’s the feeling like to be a champion again?
Ronwen Williams: It’s an amazing feeling. We are making our own history as a team. Obviously we are proud and I’m happy to be part of this team. It was difficult for us. Highlands Park pride themselves on set pieces. We dealt with that – all of us were solid at the back.
TM: You must be delighted to have kept a clean sheet and that the match did not go to penalties, as was the case last year.
RW: Conceding one goal in four games is unheard of and I’m proud of my team. We played (Bidvest) Wits, (Mamelodi) Sundowns and Highlands (Park). That just shows how good we are defensively when we are on song. It’s not easy to break us down. We pride ourselves on our defending and we defended very well in this tournament. I’m glad we kept a clean sheet.
TM: How big is this win for head coach Kaitano Tembo?
RW: It’s massive for him. He can be more at ease now. You always want that first trophy under your belt and I’m happy for him, he deserves it. I’ve known the coach for the past 14 years or so. While working in the academy, we worked together and he thoroughly deserves it. Hopefully, this is the start of good things to come for him.
TM: What has Tembo done to keep the team together?
Bu hikaye Soccer Laduma dergisinin 9 October 2019 sayısından alınmıştır.
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Bu hikaye Soccer Laduma dergisinin 9 October 2019 sayısından alınmıştır.
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We have a problem
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They have the character
Cut Lehlohonolo Seema’s skin andhe’ll probably bleed green andwhite – such has been the man’s loyalty to Bloemfontein Celtic. Born and bred in neighbouring Lesotho, the Mangaung outfit is a club that’s always had a pull factor on him. So much that it is they who pulled him from obscure Bantu United from the mountainous kingdom in 1998, and he would go on to represent the club until 2006 when the allure of Orlando Pirates, understandably, proved too great a pull factor. Yet even a five-year spell with the Soweto giants, which included a season-long loan stint at Mpumalanga Black Aces, would not prevent him being pulled back in the direction of Siwelele, albeit to begin a coaching journey in the junior ranks. The next step was to become an assistant, a job he performed with aplomb, before being called on to take the hotseat together with John Maduka after the departure of Steve Komphela at the tail end of 2018. Much against general expectation, the duo has done fairly well, if Celtic’s off-field troubles of the recent past are to be taken into consideration. Soccer Laduma’s Beaver Nazo sat down with Seema to discuss this, that, and the other.
They are on another level
Before signing for Mamelodi Sundowns last season,Lyle Lakay knew that he would be used as a leftback and not in his preferred left wing position, something that he surprisingly did not have a problem with. In his first season with the club last term, he played a key role as they went onto win an unprecedented ninth Absa Premiership league title. This season has been a bit of a slow one for Lakay, who has been used mostly as a substitute, but there’s still a lot of football to be played both locally and on the continent, so he has time to fight for his place in the starting line-up. In this interview, the former Cape Town City and Bloemfontein Celtic player chats to Soccer Laduma’s Tshepang Mailwane about his time at the Tshwane giants so far, their chances of winning the CAF Champions League and why he believes they can close the gap on current Kaizer Chiefs, who have been in fine form since the start of the campaign.
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It Was Challenging
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He Is Not Personal
He may not be gettingregular game-timedomestically with Bidvest Wits, but attacking midfielder Gift Motupa is making a name for himself in this season’s CAF Confederation Cup. The 25-year-old player has bagged six goals in the campaign so far, inspiring the Clever Boys to the group stages of a CAF club competition for the first time in their history. It has not been the same in the domestic league though, with just one start so far and one goal. Having done so well in the Confederation Cup, he will no doubt be hoping that coach Gavin Hunt will give him more opportunities to play in the Absa Premiership as the Braamfontein-based outfit looks to challenge for the title. In this interview with Soccer Laduma’s Tshepang Mailwane, Motupa expresses his excitement about qualifying for
That's Me Wherever I Go
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